I have a Macbook Air and an iPad. When they're both at home I want to be able to control music playback on the iPad from the Air. What do I want?

The idea is to control song playback on my iPad connected to the stereo from my laptop across the room while I'm at my desk without getting up, so assume all devices are on the same wifi, could be VPN connected.

I tried a few apps (TunesRemote comes closest) designed specifically for control of the Music app on the iPad but really I want a better interface and integrated control of all music apps, like MusicControl offers for Music plus Spotify/Pandora, but that will only work between two Macbooks, not Macbook + iPad. The Remote app Apple offers goes the other way, iPad to Mac, I want the reverse.

Next step is to consider some kind of full remote desktop solution I suppose. What do I want?

Given my understanding of how iOS approaches security, I doubt you'll be able to do what you want, at least not without jailbreaking. I'd look in Cydia (though I don't know of a web interface for browsing Cydia).posted by Good Brain at 1:01 PM on September 16, 2012

I don't think you can do that... but if you get a $99 apple TV, perhaps that could be a good alternate solution?posted by kdern at 2:16 PM on September 16, 2012

Not cheap; but Sonos gear can do exactly what you're looking for, including Spotify and Pandora. Strictly speaking it's the one doing the playing (it'll tap your Mac's iTunes library), and either the Mac or iPad (or iPhone, or Android phone) can control it w/o interruption.posted by ConstantineXVI at 2:43 PM on September 16, 2012

I don't have the budget for new hardware, and it seems silly to acquire yet another device when what I want is entirely possible in the hardware sense with what I have on hand. But good to know about the underlying security issue.posted by slow graffiti at 2:50 PM on September 16, 2012

Reflection works perfectly for this, as long as you have the iPad 3 and Mountain Lion and you're on WiFi.

You mirror them using AirPlay (only comes with ML), then the music plays through the MBair but is controlled by the iPad. It also works great as a document camera and is pretty fun.posted by guster4lovers at 4:27 PM on September 16, 2012

How is Reflection going to help? The point isn't to mirror the iPad to the Mac, it is to somehow put the mac in control of audio coming out of the iPad.

A possible avenue to explore, provided the OP doesn't mind leaving the Mac running while it is playing audio through the iPad:

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